Medical Co. Problems

[orchid144]

I am in california, and was never sent a bill from a medical office, or any notification of being late, and the bill was turned over to collection agency. I tried to contact them about the bill a year age and was sent to another office and in turn sent to an other office at which point I decieded to wait for them to bill me. I was just told by them that I should have paid it from my insurance statement, I don't think so, and that they do not have time to chase people around. I have two more bills with I have been trying to rectify with them and the insurance company, but after having found out about this, I do not know how to proceed. Every time I try to deal with them, it just gets me incredibly upset and I am recovering from cancer and find it hard on my health. I have tried to do the right thing and seem to be just be getting burnt. I have now had to leave work and I am on disability and can not afford an attorney, and the way I see it I would end up having to pay them anyway, plus attorney's fees. Any advice would be much apprieciated, for I am at a complete loss on what to do.

 

[JETX]

Two answers:

1) Unless the collection agency owns (has purchased) the debt, in most states, they have no power to initiate legal action. This means that if they make 'threats' of taking action, they are in violation of the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collections Practices Act). Go to http://www.ftc.gov to see a copy of the Act.

2) Assuming that the collection agency is only trying to collect for the creditor, contact the creditor directly. Advise them that you are interested in negotiating a settlement of the outstanding debt(s). Since they wouldn't have to pay the collection agency the normal (35% to 70%) fee, they creditor should be happy to negotiate a lesser settlement. Assuming that you are able to come to an agreement on paying the debt, GET IT IN WRITING from the creditor.

 

[orchid144]

Thank you very much for your reply. I, at this time, have just recieved more information from them that I know to be incorrect, so at this point I do not know what I am going to do. Thank you once again for replying to my question.